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Google Privacy Policy en Us
Google Privacy Policy en Us
This Privacy Policy is meant to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and how
you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
Privacy Checkup
Archived versions
We build a range of services that help millions of people daily to explore and interact with the world in new
ways. Our services include:
Google apps, sites, and devices, like Search, YouTube, and Google Home
Products that are integrated into third-party apps and sites, like ads, analytics, and embedded Google
Maps
You can use our services in a variety of ways to manage your privacy. For example, you can sign up for a
Google Account if you want to create and manage content like emails and photos, or see more relevant
search results. And you can use many Google services when you’re signed out or without creating an
account at all, like searching on Google or watching YouTube videos. You can also choose to browse the web
in a private mode, like Chrome Incognito mode. And across our services, you can adjust your privacy settings
to control what we collect and how your information is used.
To help explain things as clearly as possible, we’ve added examples, explanatory videos, and definitions for
key terms. And if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us.
We collect information to provide better services to all our users — from figuring out basic stuff like which
language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most useful, the people who matter
most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like. The information Google collects, and how that
information is used, depends on how you use our services and how you manage your privacy controls.
When you’re not signed in to a Google Account, we store the information we collect with unique identifiers
tied to the browser, application, or device you’re using. This allows us to do things like maintain your
preferences across browsing sessions, such as your preferred language or whether to show you more
relevant search results or ads based on your activity.
When you’re signed in, we also collect information that we store with your Google Account, which we treat as
personal information.
When you create a Google Account, you provide us with personal information that includes your name and a
password. You can also choose to add a phone number or payment information to your account. Even if you
aren’t signed in to a Google Account, you might choose to provide us with information — like an email address
to receive updates about our services.
We also collect the content you create, upload, or receive from others when using our services. This includes
things like email you write and receive, photos and videos you save, docs and spreadsheets you create, and
comments you make on YouTube videos.
We collect information about the apps, browsers, and devices you use to access Google services, which helps
us provide features like automatic product updates and dimming your screen if your battery runs low.
The information we collect includes unique identifiers, browser type and settings, device type and settings,
operating system, mobile network information including carrier name and phone number, and application
version number. We also collect information about the interaction of your apps, browsers, and devices with
our services, including IP address, crash reports, system activity, and the date, time, and referrer URL of your
request.
We collect this information when a Google service on your device contacts our servers — for example, when
you install an app from the Play Store or when a service checks for automatic updates. If you’re using an
Android device with Google apps, your device periodically contacts Google servers to provide information
about your device and connection to our services. This information includes things like your device type and
carrier name, crash reports, which apps you've installed, and, depending on your device settings, other
information about how you’re using your Android device.
Your activity
We collect information about your activity in our services, which we use to do things like recommend a
YouTube video you might like. The activity information we collect may include:
Purchase activity
You can visit your Google Account to find and manage activity information that’s saved in your account.
Go to Google Account
We collect information about your location when you use our services, which helps us offer features like
driving directions, search results for things near you, and ads based on your general location.
IP address
Activity on Google services, such as your searches and places you label like home or work
Information about things near your device, such as Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, and Bluetooth-
enabled devices
The types of location data we collect and how long we store it depend in part on your device and account
settings. For example, you can turn your Android device’s location on or off using the device’s settings app.
You can also turn on Location History if you want to create a private map of where you go with your signed-
in devices. And if your Web & App Activity setting is enabled, your searches and other activity from Google
services, which may also include location information, is saved to your Google Account. Learn more about
how we use location information.
In some circumstances, Google also collects information about you from publicly accessible sources. For
example, if your name appears in your local newspaper, Google’s Search engine may index that article and
display it to other people if they search for your name. We may also collect information about you from
trusted partners, such as directory services who provide us with business information to be displayed on
Google’s services, marketing partners who provide us with information about potential customers of our
business services, and security partners who provide us with information to protect against abuse. We also
receive information from advertising partners to provide advertising and research services on their behalf.
We use various technologies to collect and store information, including cookies, pixel tags, local storage, such
as browser web storage or application data caches, databases, and server logs.
We use the information we collect from all our services for the following purposes:
We use your information to deliver our services, like processing the terms you search for in order to return
results or helping you share content by suggesting recipients from your contacts.
We also use your information to ensure our services are working as intended, such as tracking outages or
troubleshooting issues that you report to us. And we use your information to make improvements to our
services — for example, understanding which search terms are most frequently misspelled helps us improve
spell-check features used across our services.
We use the information we collect in existing services to help us develop new ones. For example,
understanding how people organized their photos in Picasa, Google’s first photos app, helped us design and
launch Google Photos.
Depending on your settings, we may also show you personalized ads based on your interests. For example, if
you search for “mountain bikes,” you may see an ad for sports equipment when you’re browsing a site that
shows ads served by Google. You can control what information we use to show you ads by visiting your ad
settings.
We don’t show you personalized ads based on sensitive categories, such as race, religion, sexual
orientation, or health.
We don’t show you personalized ads based on your content from Drive, Gmail, or Photos.
We don’t share information that personally identifies you with advertisers, such as your name or email,
unless you ask us to. For example, if you see an ad for a nearby flower shop and select the “tap to call”
button, we’ll connect your call and may share your phone number with the flower shop.
Go to Ad Settings
Measure performance
We use data for analytics and measurement to understand how our services are used. For example, we
analyze data about your visits to our sites to do things like optimize product design. And we also use data
about the ads you interact with to help advertisers understand the performance of their ad campaigns. We
use a variety of tools to do this, including Google Analytics. When you visit sites or use apps that use Google
Analytics, a Google Analytics customer may choose to enable Google to link information about your activity
from that site or app with activity from other sites or apps that use our ad services.
We use information we collect, like your email address, to interact with you directly. For example, we may
send you a notification if we detect suspicious activity, like an attempt to sign in to your Google Account from
an unusual location. Or we may let you know about upcoming changes or improvements to our services. And
if you contact Google, we’ll keep a record of your request in order to help solve any issues you might be
facing.
We use information to help improve the safety and reliability of our services. This includes detecting,
preventing, and responding to fraud, abuse, security risks, and technical issues that could harm Google, our
users, or the public.
We use different technologies to process your information for these purposes. We use automated systems
that analyze your content to provide you with things like customized search results, personalized ads, or
other features tailored to how you use our services. And we analyze your content to help us detect abuse
such as spam, malware, and illegal content. We also use algorithms to recognize patterns in data. For
example, Google Translate helps people communicate across languages by detecting common language
patterns in phrases you ask it to translate.
We may combine the information we collect among our services and across your devices for the purposes
described above. For example, if you watch videos of guitar players on YouTube, you might see an ad for
guitar lessons on a site that uses our ad products. Depending on your account settings, your activity on other
sites and apps may be associated with your personal information in order to improve Google’s services and
the ads delivered by Google.
If other users already have your email address or other information that identifies you, we may show them
your publicly visible Google Account information, such as your name and photo. This helps people identify an
email coming from you, for example.
We’ll ask for your consent before using your information for a purpose that isn’t covered in this Privacy Policy.
This section describes key controls for managing your privacy across our services. You can also visit the
Privacy Checkup, which provides an opportunity to review and adjust important privacy settings. In addition
to these tools, we also offer specific privacy settings in our products — you can learn more in our Product
Privacy Guide.
Go to Privacy Checkup
We also built a place for you to review and control information saved in your Google Account. Your Google
Account includes:
Privacy controls
Activity Controls
Decide what types of activity you’d like saved in your account. For example, if you have YouTube
History turned on, the videos you watch and the things you search for are saved in your account
so you can get better recommendations and remember where you left off. And if you have Web
& App Activity turned on, your searches and activity from other Google services are saved in
your account so you can get more personalized experiences like faster searches and more
helpful app and content recommendations. Web & App Activity also has a subsetting that lets
you control whether information about your activity on other sites, apps, and devices that use
Google services, such as apps you install and use on Android, is saved in your Google Account
and used to improve Google services.
Go to Activity Controls
Ad settings
Manage your preferences about the ads shown to you on Google and on sites and apps that
partner with Google to show ads. You can modify your interests, choose whether your personal
information is used to make ads more relevant to you, and turn on or off certain advertising
services.
Go to Ad Settings
About you
Manage personal info in your Google Account and control who can see it across Google
services.
Go to About You
Shared endorsements
Choose whether your name and photo appear next to your activity, like reviews and
recommendations, that appear in ads.
Go to Shared Endorsements
Manage information that websites and apps using Google services, like Google Analytics, may
share with Google when you visit or interact with their services.
Go to How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services
My Activity
My Activity allows you to review and control data that’s saved to your Google Account when
you’re signed in and using Google services, like searches you’ve done or your visits to Google
Play. You can browse by date and by topic, and delete part or all of your activity.
Go to My Activity
Google Dashboard
Google Dashboard allows you to manage information associated with specific products.
Go to Dashboard
Go to Personal Info
When you’re signed out, you can manage information associated with your browser or device, including:
Signed-out search personalization: Choose whether your search activity is used to offer you more
relevant results and recommendations.
YouTube settings: Pause and delete your YouTube Search History and your YouTube Watch History.
Ad Settings: Manage your preferences about the ads shown to you on Google and on sites and apps
that partner with Google to show ads.
You can also request to remove content from specific Google services based on applicable law.
Search for and then delete specific items from your account using My Activity
Delete specific Google products, including your information associated with those products
There are other ways to control the information Google collects whether or not you’re signed in to a Google
Account, including:
Browser settings: For example, you can configure your browser to indicate when Google has set a
cookie in your browser. You can also configure your browser to block all cookies from a specific domain
or all domains. But remember that our services rely on cookies to function properly, for things like
remembering your language preferences.
Device-level settings: Your device may have controls that determine what information we collect. For
example, you can modify location settings on your Android device.
When you’re signed in and interact with some Google services, like leaving comments on a YouTube video or
reviewing an app in Play, your name and photo appear next to your activity. We may also display this
information in ads depending on your Shared endorsements setting.
If you’re a student or work for an organization that uses Google services, your domain administrator and
resellers who manage your account will have access to your Google Account. They may be able to:
Access and retain information stored in your account, like your email
View statistics regarding your account, like how many apps you install
Receive your account information in order to satisfy applicable law, regulation, legal process, or
enforceable governmental request
Restrict your ability to delete or edit your information or your privacy settings
We provide personal information to our affiliates and other trusted businesses or persons to process it for us,
based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality
and security measures. For example, we use service providers to help operate our data centers, deliver our
products and services, improve our internal business processes, and offer additional support to customers
and users. We also use service providers to help review YouTube video content for public safety and analyze
and listen to samples of saved user audio to help improve Google’s audio recognition technologies.
We will share personal information outside of Google if we have a good-faith belief that access, use,
preservation, or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:
Meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable governmental request. We share
information about the number and type of requests we receive from governments in our Transparency
Report.
Protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, our users, or the public as required or
permitted by law.
We may share non-personally identifiable information publicly and with our partners — like publishers,
advertisers, developers, or rights holders. For example, we share information publicly to show trends about
the general use of our services. We also allow specific partners to collect information from your browser or
device for advertising and measurement purposes using their own cookies or similar technologies.
If Google is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, we’ll continue to ensure the confidentiality of
your personal information and give affected users notice before personal information is transferred or
becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
All Google products are built with strong security features that continuously protect your information. The
insights we gain from maintaining our services help us detect and automatically block security threats from
ever reaching you. And if we do detect something risky that we think you should know about, we’ll notify you
and help guide you through steps to stay better protected.
We work hard to protect you and Google from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of
information we hold, including:
We offer a range of security features, like Safe Browsing, Security Checkup, and 2 Step Verification to
help you protect your account
We review our information collection, storage, and processing practices, including physical security
measures, to prevent unauthorized access to our systems
We restrict access to personal information to Google employees, contractors, and agents who need that
information in order to process it. Anyone with this access is subject to strict contractual confidentiality
obligations and may be disciplined or terminated if they fail to meet these obligations.
You can export a copy of content in your Google Account if you want to back it up or use it with a service
outside of Google.
Search for and then delete specific items from your account using My Activity
Delete specific Google products, including your information associated with those products
We retain the data we collect for different periods of time depending on what it is, how we use it, and how you
configure your settings:
Some data you can delete whenever you like, such as the content you create or upload. You can also
delete activity information saved in your account, or choose to have it deleted automatically after a set
period of time.
Other data is deleted or anonymized automatically after a set period of time, such as advertising data in
server logs.
We keep some data until you delete your Google Account, such as information about how often you use
our services.
And some data we retain for longer periods of time when necessary for legitimate business or legal
purposes, such as security, fraud and abuse prevention, or financial record-keeping.
When you delete data, we follow a deletion process to make sure that your data is safely and completely
removed from our servers or retained only in anonymized form. We try to ensure that our services protect
information from accidental or malicious deletion. Because of this, there may be delays between when you
delete something and when copies are deleted from our active and backup systems.
You can read more about Google’s data retention periods, including how long it takes us to delete your
information.
We regularly review this Privacy Policy and make sure that we process your information in ways that comply
with it.
Data transfers
We maintain servers around the world and your information may be processed on servers located outside of
the country where you live. Data protection laws vary among countries, with some providing more protection
than others. Regardless of where your information is processed, we apply the same protections described in
this policy. We also comply with certain legal frameworks relating to the transfer of data.
When we receive formal written complaints, we respond by contacting the person who made the complaint.
We work with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data protection authorities, to resolve
any complaints regarding the transfer of your data that we cannot resolve with you directly.
California requirements
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires specific disclosures for California residents.
This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how Google handles your information:
We explain the categories of information Google collects and the sources of that information in
Information Google collects.
We explain when Google may share information in Sharing your information. Google does not sell your
personal information.
The CCPA also provides the right to request information about how Google collects, uses, and discloses your
personal information. And it gives you the right to access your information and request that Google delete
that information. Finally, the CCPA provides the right to not be discriminated against for exercising your
privacy rights.
We describe the choices you have to manage your privacy and data across Google’s services in Your privacy
controls. You can exercise your rights by using these controls, which allow you to access, review, update and
delete your information, as well as export and download a copy of it. When you use them, we’ll validate your
request by verifying that you’re signed in to your Google Account. If you have questions or requests related to
your rights under the CCPA, you (or your authorized agent) can also contact Google. You can also find more
information on Google’s handling of CCPA requests.
The CCPA requires a description of data practices using specific categories. This table uses these categories
to organize the information in this Privacy Policy.
Identifiers such as your name, phone number, and address, as well as unique identifiers tied to the browser,
application, or device you’re using.
Commercial information such as your payment information and a history of purchases you make on
Google’s services.
Biometric information if you choose to provide it, such as fingerprints in Google’s product development
studies
studies.
Internet, network, and other activity information such as your search terms; views and interactions with
content and ads; Chrome browsing history you’ve synced with your Google Account; information about the
interaction of your apps, browsers, and devices with our services (like IP address, crash reports, and system
activity); and activity on third-party sites and apps that use our services. You can review and control activity
data stored in your Google Account in My Activity.
Geolocation data, such as may be determined by GPS, IP address, and other data from sensors on or around
your device, depending in part on your device and account settings. Learn more about Google’s use of
location information.
Audio, electronic, visual, and similar information, such as voice and audio information.
Professional, employment, and education information, such as information you provide or that is
maintained through an organization using Google services at which you study or work.
Other information you create or provide, such as the content you create, upload, or receive (like photos and
videos or emails, docs and spreadsheets). Google Dashboard allows you to manage information associated
with specific products.
Inferences drawn from the above, like your ads interest categories.
Protecting against security threats, abuse, and illegal activity: Google uses and may disclose information
to detect, prevent and respond to security incidents, and for protecting against other malicious, deceptive,
fraudulent, or illegal activity. For example, to protect our services, Google may receive or disclose information
about IP addresses that malicious actors have compromised.
Auditing and measurement: Google uses information for analytics and measurement to understand how our
services are used, as well as to fulfill obligations to our partners like publishers, advertisers, developers, or
rights holders. We may disclose non-personally identifiable information publicly and with these partners,
including for auditing purposes.
Maintaining our services: Google uses information to ensure our services are working as intended, such as
tracking outages or troubleshooting bugs and other issues that you report to us.
Research and development: Google uses information to improve our services and to develop new products,
features and technologies that benefit our users and the public. For example, we use publicly available
information to help train Google’s language models and build features like Google Translate.
Use of service providers: Google shares information with service providers to perform services on our behalf,
in compliance with our Privacy Policy and other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. For
example, we may rely on service providers to help provide customer support.
Advertising: Google processes information to provide advertising, including online identifiers, browsing and
search activity, and information about your location and interactions with advertisements. This keeps
Google’s services and many of the websites and services you use free of charge. You can control what
information we use to show you ads by visiting your ad settings.
Legal reasons: Google also uses information to satisfy applicable laws or regulations, and discloses
information in response to legal process or enforceable government requests, including to law enforcement.
We provide information about the number and type of requests we receive from governments in our
Transparency Report.
Other people with whom you choose to share your information, like docs or photos, and videos or
comments on YouTube.
Third parties to whom you consent to sharing your information, such as services that integrate with
Google’s services. You can review and manage third party apps and sites with access to data in your Google
Account.
Service providers, trusted businesses or persons that process information on Google’s behalf, based on our
instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security
measures.
Domain administrators, if you work or study at an organization that uses Google services.
Law enforcement or other third parties, for the legal reasons described in Sharing your information.
AB OUT TH IS POL ICY
The information practices of other companies and organizations that advertise our services
Services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites they offer that may
include Google services to which the policy applies, or products or sites displayed to you in search
results, or linked from our services
Payments
Fiber
Google Fi
YouTube Kids
Google Accounts Managed with Family Link, for Children under 13 (or applicable age in your country)
Voice and Audio Collection from Children’s Features on the Google Assistant
If you’re a member of an organization that uses Google Workspace or Google Cloud Platform, learn how
these services collect and use your personal information in the Google Cloud Privacy Notice.
Your Google Account is home to many of the settings you can use to manage your account
Privacy Checkup guides you through key privacy settings for your Google Account
Google’s safety center helps you learn more about our built-in security, privacy controls, and tools to
help set digital ground rules for your family online
Google’s Teen Privacy Guide provides answers to some of the top questions we get asked about privacy
Privacy & Terms provides more context regarding this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service
How Google uses pattern recognition to recognize things like faces in photos
How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services
Key terms
Affiliates
An affiliate is an entity that belongs to the Google group of companies, including the following companies
that provide consumer services in the EU: Google Ireland Limited, Google Commerce Ltd, Google Payment
Corp, and Google Dialer Inc. Learn more about the companies providing business services in the EU.
Algorithm
An application data cache is a data repository on a device. It can, for example, enable a web application to
run without an internet connection and improve the performance of the application by enabling faster
loading of content.
Browser web storage enables websites to store data in a browser on a device. When used in "local storage"
mode, it enables data to be stored across sessions. This makes data retrievable even after a browser has
been closed and reopened. One technology that facilitates web storage is HTML 5.
Cookies
A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a
website. When you visit the site again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may
store user preferences and other information. You can configure your browser to refuse all cookies or to
indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some website features or services may not function properly
without cookies. Learn more about how Google uses cookies and how Google uses data, including cookies,
when you use our partners' sites or apps.
Device
A device is a computer that can be used to access Google services. For example, desktop computers, tablets,
smart speakers, and smartphones are all considered devices.
Google Account
You may access some of our services by signing up for a Google Account and providing us with some
personal information (typically your name, email address, and a password). This account information is used
to authenticate you when you access Google services and protect your account from unauthorized access
by others. You can edit or delete your account at any time through your Google Account settings.
IP address
Every device connected to the Internet is assigned a number known as an Internet protocol (IP) address.
These numbers are usually assigned in geographic blocks. An IP address can often be used to identify the
location from which a device is connecting to the Internet.
This is information that is recorded about users so that it no longer reflects or references an individually-
identifiable user.
Personal information
This is information that you provide to us which personally identifies you, such as your name, email address,
or billing information, or other data that can be reasonably linked to such information by Google, such as
information we associate with your Google Account.
Pixel tag
A pixel tag is a type of technology placed on a website or within the body of an email for the purpose of
tracking certain activity, such as views of a website or when an email is opened. Pixel tags are often used in
combination with cookies.
Referrer URL
A Referrer URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is information transmitted to a destination webpage by a web
browser, typically when you click a link to that page. The Referrer URL contains the URL of the last webpage
the browser visited.
This is a particular category of personal information relating to topics such as confidential medical facts,
racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs, or sexuality.
Server logs
Like most websites, our servers automatically record the page requests made when you visit our sites. These
“server logs” typically include your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language,
the date and time of your request, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.
A typical log entry for a search for “cars” looks like this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cars -
740674ce2123e969
123.45.67.89 is the Internet Protocol address assigned to the user by the user’s ISP. Depending on the
user’s service, a different address may be assigned to the user by their service provider each time they
connect to the Internet.
Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 is the browser and operating system being used.
740674ce2123a969 is the unique cookie ID assigned to this particular computer the first time it visited
Google. (Cookies can be deleted by users. If the user has deleted the cookie from the computer since the
last time they’ve visited Google, then it will be the unique cookie ID assigned to their device the next time
they visit Google from that particular device).
Unique identifiers
A unique identifier is a string of characters that can be used to uniquely identify a browser, app, or device.
Different identifiers vary in how permanent they are, whether they can be reset by users, and how they can be
accessed.
Unique identifiers can be used for various purposes, including security and fraud detection, syncing services
such as your email inbox, remembering your preferences, and providing personalized advertising. For
example, unique identifiers stored in cookies help sites display content in your browser in your preferred
language. You can configure your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
Learn more about how Google uses cookies.
On other platforms besides browsers, unique identifiers are used to recognize a specific device or app on that
device. For example, a unique identifier such as the Advertising ID is used to provide relevant advertising on
Android devices, and can be managed in your device’s settings. Unique identifiers may also be incorporated
into a device by its manufacturer (sometimes called a universally unique ID or UUID), such as the IMEI-
number of a mobile phone. For example, a device’s unique identifier can be used to customize our service to
your device or analyze device issues related to our services.
Additional Context
For example, if you watch videos about baking on YouTube, you may see more ads that relate to baking as
you browse the web. We also may use your IP address to determine your approximate location, so that we
can serve you ads for a nearby pizza delivery service if you search for “pizza.” Learn more about Google ads
and why you may see particular ads.
For example, advertisers may upload data from their loyalty-card programs so that they can better
understand the performance of their ad campaigns. We only provide aggregated reports to advertisers that
don’t reveal information about individual people.
When you’re signed in to your Google Account and search on Google, you can see search results from
the public web, along with relevant information from the content you have in other Google products, like
Gmail or Google Calendar. This can include things like the status of your upcoming flights, restaurant,
and hotel reservations, or your photos. Learn more
If you have communicated with someone via Gmail and want to add them to a Google Doc or an event
in Google Calendar, Google makes it easy to do so by autocompleting their email address when you
start to type in their name. This feature makes it easier to share things with people you know. Learn
more
The Google app can use data that you have stored in other Google products to show you personalized
content, depending on your settings. For example, if you have searches stored in your Web & App
Activity, the Google app can show you news articles and other information about your interests, like
sports scores, based your activity. Learn more
If you link your Google Account to your Google Home, you can manage your information and get things
done through the Google Assistant. For example, you can add events to your Google Calendar or get
your schedule for the day, ask for status updates on your upcoming flight, or send information like
driving directions to your phone. Learn more
For example, when you’re signed in to your Google Account and have the Web & App Activity control enabled,
you can get more relevant search results that are based on your previous searches and activity from other
Google services. You can learn more here. You may also get customized search results even when you’re
signed out. If you don’t want this level of search customization, you can search and browse privately or turn
off signed-out search personalization.
We use the IP address assigned to your device to send you the data you requested, such as loading a
YouTube video
We use unique identifiers stored in cookies on your device to help us authenticate you as the person who
should have access to your Google Account
Photos and videos you upload to Google Photos are used to help you create albums, animations, and
other creations that you can share. Learn more
A flight confirmation email you receive may be used to create a “check-in” button that appears in your
Gmail
When you purchase services or physical goods from us, you may provide us information like your
shipping address or delivery instructions. We use this information for things like processing, fulfilling,
and delivering your order, and to provide support in connection with the product or service you
purchase.
detect abuse
When we detect spam, malware, illegal content, and other forms of abuse on our systems in violation of our
policies, we may disable your account or take other appropriate action. In certain circumstances, we may
also report the violation to appropriate authorities.
devices
For example, we can use information from your devices to help you decide which device you’d like to use to
install an app or view a movie you buy from Google Play. We also use this information to help protect your
account.
For example, we analyze how people interact with advertising to improve the performance of our ads.
If you use Google’s Location services on Android, we can improve the performance of apps that rely on your
location, like Google Maps. If you use Google’s Location services, your device sends information to Google
about its location, sensors (like accelerometer), and nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi access points (like MAC
address and signal strength). All these things help to determine your location. You can use your device
settings to enable Google Location services. Learn more
Like other technology and communications companies, Google regularly receives requests from
governments and courts around the world to disclose user data. Respect for the privacy and security of data
you store with Google underpins our approach to complying with these legal requests. Our legal team
reviews each and every request, regardless of type, and we frequently push back when a request appears to
be overly broad or doesn’t follow the correct process. Learn more in our Transparency Report.
make improvements
For example, we use cookies to analyze how people interact with our services. And that analysis can help us
build better products. For example, it may help us discover that it’s taking people too long to complete a
certain task or that they have trouble finishing steps at all. We can then redesign that feature and improve
the product for everyone.
Google Analytics relies on first-party cookies, which means the cookies are set by the Google Analytics
customer. Using our systems, data generated through Google Analytics can be linked by the Google Analytics
customer and by Google to third-party cookies that are related to visits to other websites. For example, an
advertiser may want to use its Google Analytics data to create more relevant ads, or to further analyze its
traffic. Learn more
partner with Google
There are over 2 million non-Google websites and apps that partner with Google to show ads. Learn more
payment information
For example, if you add a credit card or other payment method to your Google Account, you can use it to buy
things across our services, like apps in the Play Store. We may also ask for other information, like a business
tax ID, to help process your payment. In some cases, we may also need to verify your identity and may ask
you for information to do this.
We may also use payment information to verify that you meet age requirements, if, for example, you enter an
incorrect birthday indicating you’re not old enough to have a Google Account. Learn more
personalized ads
You may also see personalized ads based on information from the advertiser. If you shopped on an
advertiser's website, for example, they can use that visit information to show you ads. Learn more
phone number
If you add your phone number to your account, it can be used for different purposes across Google services,
depending on your settings. For example, your phone number can be used to help you access your account if
you forget your password, help people find and connect with you, and make the ads you see more relevant to
you. Learn more
For example, information about security threats can help us notify you if we think your account has been
compromised (at which point we can help you take steps to protect your account).
For example, we use a cookie called ‘lbcs’ that makes it possible for you to open many Google Docs in one
browser. Blocking this cookie would prevent Google Docs from working as expected. Learn more
Some examples of how we use your information to help keep our services safe and reliable include:
Collecting and analyzing IP addresses and cookie data to protect against automated abuse. This abuse
takes many forms, such as sending spam to Gmail users, stealing money from advertisers by
fraudulently clicking on ads, or censoring content by launching a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
attack.
The “last account activity” feature in Gmail can help you find out if and when someone accessed your
email without your knowledge. This feature shows you information about recent activity in Gmail, such
as the IP addresses that accessed your mail, the associated location, and the date and time of access.
Learn more
sensitive categories
When showing you personalized ads, we use topics that we think might be of interest to you based on your
activity. For example, you may see ads for things like "Cooking and Recipes" or "Air Travel.” We don’t use topics
or show personalized ads based on sensitive categories like race, religion, sexual orientation, or health. And
we require the same from advertisers that use our services.
Your device may have sensors that can be used to better understand your location and movement. For
example, an accelerometer can be used to determine your speed and a gyroscope to figure out your direction
of travel.
servers around the world
For example, we operate data centers located around the world to help keep our products continuously
available for users.
Google Voice, for making and receiving calls, sending text messages, and managing voicemail
Google Duo, for making and receiving video calls and sending and receiving messages
show trends
When lots of people start searching for something, it can provide useful information about particular trends
at that time. Google Trends samples Google web searches to estimate the popularity of searches over a
certain period of time and shares those results publicly in aggregated terms. Learn more
For example, you can delete your blog from Blogger or a Google Site you own from Google Sites. You can also
delete reviews you’ve left on apps, games, and other content in the Play Store.
specific partners
For example, we allow YouTube creators and advertisers to work with measurement companies to learn
about the audience of their YouTube videos or ads, using cookies or similar technologies. Another example is
merchants on our shopping pages, who use cookies to understand how many different people see their
product listings. Learn more about these partners and how they use your information.
Your Chrome browsing history is only saved to your account if you’ve enabled Chrome synchronization with
your Google Account. Learn more
For example, when you type an address in the To, Cc, or Bcc field of an email you're composing, Gmail will
suggest addresses based on the people you contact most frequently.
third parties
For example, we process your information to report use statistics to rights holders about how their content
was used in our services. We may also process your information if people search for your name and we
display search results for sites containing publicly available information about you.
For example, we collect information about views and interactions with ads so we can provide aggregated
reports to advertisers, like telling them whether we served their ad on a page and whether the ad was likely
seen by a viewer. We may also measure other interactions, such as how you move your mouse over an ad or
if you interact with the page on which the ad appears.
For example, you can choose whether you want Google to save an audio recording to your Google Account
when you interact with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps. When your device detects an audio activation
command, like “Hey Google,” Google records your voice and audio plus a few seconds before the activation.
Learn more
Learn more about how Google uses data when you use our partners' sites or apps.